Attitudes Toward Patient Safety among Medical Students in Malaysia

Abstract

The biggest challenge in moving toward a safer healthcare system is patient safety culture—that is, the prevention of harm to patients. Safe medical practices can prevent doing harm to the patients. For this, healthcare professionals must have good attitudes toward patient safety. Medical education plays an important role in promoting patient safety and patient safety attitudes. A study was conducted among medical students in Malaysia to assess their perceptions toward patient safety, using the 26-items Attitudes Toward Patient Safety Questionnaire (APSQ-III). In the analysis, the average percentage of positive responses (APPR) were computed for each domain, and APPR values of ≥75 were used as an indicator of positive perception. Out of the nine domains of APSQ, the students’ attitude was positive in six—Safety Training (85.2%), Error Reporting (76.3%), Working Hours (89.5%), Error Inevitability (86.1%), Team Functioning (94.6%), and Patient Involvement (80.1%). The desired level of positive attitude was not met in Disclosure Responsibility (68.5%), Professional Incompetence (70.0%), and Safety Curriculum (71.1%). APRR for disclosure responsibility was high among the first-year students, but, generally, the effect wore off over the years of study. The results support the need to enhance perception on Disclosure Responsibility, Professional Incompetence, and Safety Curriculum among the medical students in Malaysia.